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Manager, Innovation & Product Formulation

New York, New York

Helaina is a VC-backed biotech startup creating a new category of functional food products.

Our vision is to bring the functional properties of human proteins to food. Helaina will be the first company to put human milk proteins into food, defining a new category of consumer nutrition products focused on supporting immunity. We see a range of opportunities to use our breast milk proteins to enhance other types of functional foods for all segments of the population.

Helaina is backed by top VCs in the industry including Spark Capital, Siam Capital, Primary Venture Partners, and Plum Alley. We are a team of change-makers looking for our next team member who is intensely passionate about advancing synthetic biology for food and beverage products and redefining the future of nutrition.

About the Job:

We're seeking an ambitious and dynamic individual to join our team as Manager, Innovation & Product Formulation.  This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned professional with a background in food science to identify and develop new and innovative product applications using Helaina’s technology to enable B2B sales.  The successful candidate will play a pivotal role showcasing Helaina’s technology through product applications and the sales process, working to meet consumer demands for technical support through the development and commercialization process.  This role requires a forward-thinking individual who can drive innovation in a customer-facing environment, while managing multiple projects. 

What You’ll Do:

  • Act as technical sales support, joining customer calls and leading discussions on innovative applications of Helaina’s ingredients to sell customers on use cases of Helaina’s ingredient in their portfolio.
  • Work closely with Sales and Marketing to imagine, design, and implement new product concepts and prototyping that showcase Helaina’s novel ingredients in various different food applications including but not limited to - dry mixes, beverages (nutritional, carbonated), yogurts, gummies, gels, bars, milks, and more. 
  • Run the end-to-end process for customer prototyping by initiating development briefs for customer products, presenting concepts in client meetings, testing concepts in-lab, and making samples to ship to customers.
  • Develop customer, market, and consumer insights on ingredient innovation to guide application development.
  • Conduct lab-based sensory evaluations of products to ensure highest quality for taste, flavor, and texture.
  • Support trade show work with samples, attendance, and technical support.
  • Design innovation solutions to ensure Helaina’s ingredients can withstand varying types of product applications.
  • Assess and implement packaging for samples and recommend packaging for customers to ensure maximum shelf life.
  • Work collaboratively with the R&D & Regulatory teams to assess functional properties of formulations and fulfill testing needs of applications in regulatory dossiers. 

About You:

  • You have a Bachelors or Masters degree in Food Science or related fields and a passion for food.
  • You have 6-10 years of food and supplement product development with considerable experience supporting sales and marketing teams.
  • You have technical experience and strong understanding of functional ingredients and clean-label standards.
  • You have excellent communication skills including the ability to effectively communicate innovative ideas to both internal stakeholders and external customers.
  • You have experience formulating and scaling a range of different product applications.
  • You have significant experience working on products regulated as supplements and food, with strong knowledge on formulating to ensure compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.
  • You have demonstrable skill in managing product innovation in a customer-facing setting from ideas to launch including the identification, development and delivery of impactful business and customer-optimized product innovations.
  • You have experience managing a small team. 
  • You are available during evenings and weekends as needed to complete high priority and time sensitive formulations and samples.

All candidates must be available to work 5 days per week onsite at Helaina's office in NYC, and able to travel domestically and internationally to meet clients, attend industry trade shows and conferences, and visit vendors, pilot facilities, CMOs, etc.

Compensation is market-competitive with a yearly cash base of $95k - $145k plus equity.

We use a disciplined approach to compensation.  We believe this is the only way to create a consistent, strategic, and equitable compensation structure that in turn unlocks healthy growth for our organization.  We build our range with benchmarking data for the particular role from Pave.com.  Because Pave hooks into HRIS, they have the most accurate data for early-stage companies.  We decide any given hire's offer based on three factors:

first among them, expected performance in the role (based on performance in the interview process and proximity of experience);as well as seniority (amount of relevant experience);and location (different cost of living).

Benefits:

Helaina was founded on the belief that families should have freedom of choice.  We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace that does just that, supporting our team's health, wellbeing and professional development at every stage and milestone.  We are proud to offer comprehensive health care, generous parental leave and childcare reimbursement, equity packages and more.  A few highlights include:

  • Full medical, vision and dental coverage
  • Short and long term disability insurance coverage
  • 401k match (up to 3%)
  • Unlimited vacation days, including an all-company holiday between Christmas and New Year
  • Paid Parental Leave for both parents + flexible return to work program
  • Childcare reimbursement program
  • Commuter Benefits
  • Leadership Development coaching through BetterUp

 

Visit us at https://www.myhelaina.com/news to learn more about Helaina.

 

Helaina is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Helaina we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.  You may just be the strongest candidate for this or other roles.  For more information, please contact careers@myhelaina.com.  

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